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Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full: Gospel Meditations For Busy Moms (2014)

by Gloria Furman(Favorite Author)

4.49 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1433538881 (ISBN13: 9781433538889)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Crossway

review 1: I received "Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full" by Gloria Furman from Crossway.org. Much like the title this e-book hits the nail on the head with a lot of words. The book relates motherhood and faith into one package. Furman mixes two different writing styles. She bounces back and for between a modern, forward voice that tends to relate to moms and then goes into a scholar, seminary voice as if she were writing for a doctorate paper. Both are good stuff, but I didn't like the swing back and forth. Adding the parental voice tended to make the scholar voice seem too wordy. Its a good book, but the flow could be a lot better.
review 2: BOOK REVIEW:TREASURING CHRIST WHEN YOUR HANDS ARE FULLA GOSPEL MEDITATION FOR BUSY MUMSWHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT:In th... moree words of Gloria: “TCWYHAF is not a to-do list on how to be a good mother. It’s about our good God and what He has done.” Pg.20 and that is the essence of this book.She poses the question in the opening stages of her introduction: “A mother’s hands are always full; but what are they full with?” And seeks to urge the reader that although mum’s hands are full, we need to seek our strength and anchorage, guidance and comfort, wisdom and joy from the God of glory and from the gospel of Jesus Christ. She reminds us of the beauty and brilliance and God-given dignity of a mother’s work and that day and night, moment by moment, we must choose to rest in Jesus.Gloria makes a comment that perhaps a lot of moms, myself included, do not stop to think about nor believe: “A mother’s work is holy unto the Lord. ... He is our power to love God and our children”. We are reminded that with God’s power at work in us “we can humble ourselves in our work as mothers, because no one ever displayed more humility than our Redeemer as He abandoned His right to stay in heaven and died the death we deserve (Phil.2:3-8). With His power we can pursue our family with sacrificial love, because the Son gladly submitted to the Father’s will. ... He is our righteousness.” Pg.19Gloria also points out that the flip side of this “gift of motherhood” and “holy work unto the Lord” is that motherhood is sometimes thankless work, seemingly futile and that mothers “feel that their hands are full of inconvenience.” However, in those moments, Gloria reminds the reader, “Because of the gospel I am rescued from having to respond to those troubles in the way my sinful flesh would prefer – I am strengthened by grace because I’ve been given the righteousness of Jesus Christ when I do respond sinfully.” Pg.29And in a short summary of her entire book, Gloria tells the reader the gist of her book, understanding that a lot of moms may not be able to read much of the book: Because of the gospel – the news about what Jesus did on the cross to save sinners – mothers who make Christ their treasure can rejoice in their work as God works in them. Pg.32The sub-title of the book, “Gospel meditations for busy mums”, is not what most perceive Gospel meditations to be. Rather than a portion of Scripture with a short comment following, it is an explanation of aspects of the Gospel; such as – “the gospel is not a matter of personal preference, it is news that is a matter of spiritual life and death. The gospel can shape our home as we mothers realise that we will not always meet the standards of excellence that we desire. If we want to give grace to our children, then we must be willing to receive it first from God.” “The gospel reminds me that a mother’s plans are not ultimate, God is.” “Only the gospel can persevere your faith through a spiritual blow-out.” “The gospel changes how we view our failures, and we see how God redeems our flaws for his own glory.” “The gospel of grace says that God accepts you in Christ. Through the gospel, God does something better for us than merely denying our guilt. God removes from us our filthy rags and clothes us in the righteousness of Christ.” “The gospel has relevance to your day today no matter how strong you feel at this moment. The response we should have to this news is overflowing praise so that others can see how God the Lord is to you.”And after all these considerations, perhaps the summary could be: “It’s hard to complain when your heart is filled with praise. ... “my mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day.” (Ps.71:8)”IS IT ANY GOOD?I adore the cover photo and the title of the book and I was so excited to read it and to be encouraged to treasure Christ in those difficult, mundane moments when my hands are extremely full and as a result I was disappointed that the book did not live up to its cover. I am a mum of three children born in a space of 24 months and 25 days. Yes, that is 3 children, 3 pregnancies, in 2 years. The first 5 years with my children were like a whirlwind and I too, as Gloria briefly touched on, found my usual, daily quiet time with the Lord vanish like mist as soon as the kids arose. I was sleep deprived and extremely sensitive to the screams of 3 babies. A lot of the time I was on my own as my husband is a pilot and I had no help. If I had been given a copy of this book then I would have received it with joy and elation, hoping for some help to lift my chin above the nappies and chaos of three young children so that I might see Jesus. However, my honest opinion is that I would not have gotten past probably the third page in this book. I found it a particularly difficult read. I loved the small sections where the stories were personal and I could relate. Other than that, it was a very wordy, theological read – and when you are scrambling between bottles, pacifiers, tantrums and dirty nappies... this book would have just been too much to get through. less

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